Roy Keane Says Ian Wright Is On Arsenal’s ‘Wage Bill’ As They Clash Over Liverpool

Roy Keane hilariously accused Ian Wright of working undercover for Arsenal when the duo got into a heated exchange over the Gunners’ 1-0 defeat away to Liverpool.

The popular pundits are usually poking fun at one another, and that was the case on this week’s episode of the Stick to Football podcast. They discussed Mikel Arteta’s side faltering at Anfield just before the international break.

Dominik Szoboszlai scored a sensational free-kick to make it three wins out of three for the defending Premier League champions and hand Mikel Arteta’s men their first defeat of the season. While it was a frustrating result for the Gunners, Wright tried to take positives from the game, much to Keane’s frustration.

Roy Keane & Ian Wright Clash Over Arsenal’s Anfield Loss

Gary Neville bemoaned Arsenal’s performance against Liverpool and was in disbelief when Wright defended his former club and claimed that Arteta’s visitors “hung in there”. The North Londoners’ legendary former striker explained that they were away to Liverpool and pointed out that they had scored in their previous two games.

This riled Keane up, who responded: “Bournemouth scored two there (at Anfield), Newcastle scored two there with ten men.” Wright doubled down on his stance by claiming that Arteta’s side had “played a different way”.

Keane had heard enough by this point and hit out at his colleague: “Be critical of Arsenal! Are you on their wage bill? We criticise Manchester United!”

The pair started bickering at this point before Wright jokingly explained why he’s prepared to put United on blast: “Yeah, because you can criticise them… they’re f*cking sh*t every week!”

Wright still has a strong affection for Arsenal and isn’t afraid to go to bat for the club where he spent seven years as a player. He recently featured in new signing Eberechi Eze’s announcement video. He asked the English attacker, who followed in his footsteps by signing from Crystal Palace, the “rhetorical question”: Do you want the Arsenal?”

That’s not the case for Keane, who doesn’t feel obligated to back Manchester United despite captaining the Red Devils at the peak of his playing career. The Irishman is often brutal in his assessment of his former club while covering their fall from grace since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

United have started the season worryingly, losing 1-0 to the Gunners in their opener before drawing with Fulham and crashing out of the Carabao Cup at the hands of EFL League Two minnows Grimsby Town. They secured their first win of the campaign before the international break, beating Burnley 3-2 the day before Arsenal’s loss at Anfield.

Does Keane Have A Point?

It’s becoming the norm every season for Arsenal fans to head into a Premier League campaign with dreams of winning the title and going one step further than the year before. Arteta’s men have finished runner-up in each of the last three seasons, twice behind Manchester City and once behind Liverpool.

City’s stumble last season had many believing that they would finally get the job done and capitalise on Pep Guardiola’s champions’ struggles. But the same old story ensued, and questionable recruitment left Arteta light in attack when an injury crisis struck.

The Spaniard has been heavily backed this summer with the addition of Viktor Gyokeres, Eze, Noni Madueke and Martin Zubimendi. But the 1-0 opening win over United left much to be admired.

Keane had already voiced his concerns with the North Londoners’ mentalities (via Sky Sports): “You wonder why Arsenal are still coming up short – it’s because they are still happy to sit back at 1-0. And then you think, is that the reason you drew so many games last year?”

The Gunners were much improved in a 5-0 thrashing of Leeds United on matchweek two but headed to Anfield with a gameplan that fell flat. Keane had added: “You compare that to Man City and Liverpool. They are always looking to go on and get the second or the third. Even on a bad day they can score two or three goals.”

Arteta will be hoping his side can bounce back when they host Nottingham Forest at the Emirates in Saturday’s early kick-off. He is in his sixth year as manager and still the 2019 FA Cup remains the only trophy he’s delivered.